The throng of people who nearly packed a theater at Fort Eustis, Virginia, on Oct. 30, 2015, to hear a general provide an update on the Department of Defense sexual assault policy may have only expected that. But they got more than a policy update — they also got an inspirational supplication to embrace the military profession.

Seconds before the director of the DoD Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office entered Wylie Theater, her strong and warm voice floated across the crowd, as she stopped to thank a few folks outside. Heads started to turn, and eyes followed the diminutive general as she made her way down the aisle, engaging with the crowd.

Only mere minutes into her presentation, Maj. Gen. Camille M. Nichols pulled no punches with the crowd, largely made up of Sexual Harassment/Assault Response Program and SAPR professionals.

“My discussion today is not about sexual assault. It’s about our profession.”

Nichols references the military profession, where military and civilians serve together within a culture of trust. Military organizations must set the conditions for an ideal place where people want to serve safely and securely, she said.

“We collectively can fix this problem. I honestly believe that just like every other hurdle we’ve overcome, we can, in fact, have the profession that we want,” Nichols said.

Nichols has personally witnessed various challenges the military has overcome during her 40-year career, and believes that conquering sexual assault will happen. And while the military has made great strides to combat this crime, there’s much more work to be done such as not being bystanders and looking the other way.

“The actual crime is just an aberration,” Nichols said. “The fact that it exists in our ranks is our fault, to have allowed it, and to create an environment for it. And so it’s our responsibility to change it.”

The way to get at it is much more than annual SHARP training — which she believes can be refined further, looking at better ways to facilitate training on such a sensitive subject. It’s leveraging other risk reduction programs, such as family advocacy and substance abuse.

“It is a confluence of bad behaviors that we have to get after,” Nichols said. “Eliminating vulnerable areas, allowing them to act vulnerably.

“I don’t want to necessarily report another sexual assault, I want to get that person care. I want to shape the environment so that it doesn’t happen to someone else.”

Nichols was appointed the DoD SAPRO director in June 2015. The SAPRO provides oversight of DoD’s sexual assault program, working closely with the Services and civilian community to develop and implement innovative prevention and response programs.

The community of SHARP and SAPR professionals is made up of sexual assault response coordinators and SAPR victim advocates, who provide victim support, response and reporting options. But their role is more than just “reacting” — they serve in a proactive role as well.

Nichols reminded the gathering of that, urging them to do “terrain walks” in the various work centers and engage in dialogue with the troops. In other words, demonstrate social courage and safely correct harmful behavior.

At the conclusion of the meeting, Nichols besought the crowd.

“I honestly believe it is my duty to change our profession for the better, and I need all of you in our community to help me do that. Can you help me do that?”

***

As part of her update, Nichols outlined the SAPR strategic plan, lines of effort and objectives, which was updated and reissued in 2013 to better achieve purpose and unity of effort across the Services. The strategic plan can be accessed on the SAPRO website at www.sapr.mil.

(Nichols’ visit to Fort Eustis was hosted by U.S. Army Center for Initial Military Training Commanding General, Maj. Gen. Anthony C. Funkhouser. Funkhouser is also the executive agent for U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command’s SHARP program, and Joint Base Langley-Eustis senior commander, Army element.)

***

Affected by sexual assault? The DoD Safe Helpline provides five ways to receive help. Each way is anonymous, secure and available around the clock: Call 877-995-5247, text 55-247, click www.safehelpline.org to receive online help or to enter a safe and secure help room, or download a self-care app on your mobile device by searching “Safe Helpline App” in the mobile device’s app store.

Photo credit: Director, Department of Defense Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office, Maj. Gen. Camille M. Nichols, provided an update on the DoD’s sexual assault program to a packed Wylie Theater largely made up of Sexual Harassment/Assault Response Program and SAPR professionals at Fort Eustis, Virginia, Oct. 30, 2015. During the update, Nichols stated that her discussion is not about sexual assault, but about our profession, imploring the gathered SHARP and SAPR professionals to help her change the profession for the better. “I don’t want to necessarily report another sexual assault, I want to get that person care. I want to shape the environment so that it doesn’t happen to someone else.” U.S. Army photo by Rodney Speed.

“In planning we said ‘let’s make this important to people,’ and in order to make things important, it has to be personal,” said Col. Jim Payne, commander of 30th Air Defense Artillery Brigade. “We are taking them to where things have happened and discussing, in some detail, what happened, showing them pictures of the person, so that it resonates with them. It’s better than talking about it.”

Leaders included battalion commanders, first sergeants, sergeants major and also Sexual Harassment, Assault Response and Prevention and post safety representatives to include the Fires Center of Excellence Safety, and Criminal Investigation Command representatives. The purpose of bringing together command teams and SHARP/safety representatives was to create dialogue on ways leaders can help prevent future incidents.

“The SHARP and safety representatives provided additional information as well as subject-matter expertise for our briefers,” said Maj. Jimmy Chen, 30th ADA Brigade operations officer. “They also facilitated discussion by answering in-depth questions from the attendees. Their attendance enabled discussions to go beyond the ‘who, what, when, where and why’ questions and into the ‘how’ domain, which gets us deeper into the heart of the matter.”

The safety ride began with an introduction and statistics brief where participants learned about the typical characteristics of sexual predators.

Capt. Courtney Tiemeyer, commander of B Battery, 3-6th ADA, said she learned typical characteristics in-clude smooth talking, being proficient at physical fitness and at work, and that oftentimes their victims are quiet, have had issues and have more to lose.

From there the leaders boarded a bus and traveled to six sites where SHARP or safety incidents occurred. Case-study sites included on-post locations such as the barracks and motor pool and also off-post locations such as the road leading to the Holy City in the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge.

“We wanted to include off-post locations since our brigade leadership is well aware that our responsibilities should not be limited within the confines of the installation,” said Chen. “If we were to limit our staff ride to only on-post locations, we would not get a holistic view of our Soldiers’ lives and the potential hazards that exist.”

Each command team was given a location and case study to present to the group. As the group arrived at a location, the command team responsible would spell out the details of the incident that took place. From there they took the conversation from saying what happened to “what now?”

“We know the ‘what,’ now we need to know the ‘so what,'” said Payne. “How can we apply what happened here to our lives and to our Soldiers. We have questions to answer, ‘what did the chain of command do right and what was not right?’ We are also developing communication skills with our leadership by pulling out the dialogue. They have to be comfortable speaking to their leaders, peers and subordinates. They are learning to be forthright and have courage when they speak.”

Tiemeyer’s team spoke at the motorpool where earlier in the year a contractor lost his finger due to negligence on the part of many. Tiemeyer explained how the finger was lost but also described how the victim said there was not a standard when, in fact, there was one.

“If everyone had been doing their part and paid attention this could have been avoided but people became complacent,” said Tiemeyer. “They felt comfortable. They’d done it this way eight or nine times before so it wasn’t a big deal. But just because you’ve done it so many times doesn’t mean the next time it won’t be catastrophic. There was a correct way but it didn’t make its way down to the lowest level and if the training isn’t making it’s way down, then it’s all for nothing.”

Payne joined in the conversation encouraging leaders to not “sit on their high horse” and think it could not happen to them. He said the standard operating procedures handbook was 50 pages long and asked if those present had read it.

“Do not let yourself become complacent,” he said. “It can happen to us, too. It only takes one time, one day, one check for something to happen. Just because we’ve always done it the same way doesn’t mean that’s the correct way to do it.”

This was the first safety staff ride the brigade has done in this manner, said Chen. The feedback from the event was positive as many commented on not ever being part of a safety ride with this degree of interaction. Tiemeyer said she has plans to take what was done and mimic it on a small scale within her own unit.

“Every Friday I give a safety brief to my privates,” said Tiemeyer. “I will be telling them about today, about what happened at each stop. I want to have a dialogue with them and make it real so they know it can happen to anyone.”

WASHINGTON, October 28, 2015 – The Defense Department today honored groups and individuals from each military component who contributed an innovative idea or approach to positively affect sexual assault prevention.

FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (Sept. 24, 2015) — The Maneuver Support Center of Excellence Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention team set out to bridge the generation gap toward achieving cultural change during the “Not in My Squad … Not in My Army, We are Trusted Professionals,” SHARP summit held in Baker Theater Friday.

The purpose of the summit was to provide the Army’s emerging leaders with a better understanding of the culture of Soldiers just entering the Army, challenges the community faces and how to rid organizations of sexual assault and sexual harassment.

“We are here to provide the team leader through company commander with the confidence they need for intervention and prevention of sexual harassment and sexual assault,” according to Master Sgt. Michael Cassidy, the summit’s master of ceremonies.

Representatives from Waynesville High School and Missouri University of Science and Technology, spoke, along with military and civilian panel members from a variety of experience and leadership levels.

“We have educators here, because company-level leaders are dealing with a generation of individuals who are entering the Army from either high school or college,” Cassidy said.

Courtney Long, Waynesville High School principal, provided insight into the diverse population of nearly 1,600 high school students who enroll each year.

“We have phenomenal students,” Long emphasized. “We’re just not naïve enough to think that these things (sexual harassment and assault) don’t happen.”

Long talked about the differences between attending high school in the ’80s versus today.

“If you think the whole world’s getting old, but I’m not, you may be several decades removed from high school,” she said. “Many things are the same. Many things are different, such as increased supervision, cameras and security guards.”

Long mentioned that generational factors of informal speech, pop culture and social media make it challenging to teach students where to draw the line between appropriate and inappropriate language and actions.

“Because of the courage of groups like the Army, we have the courage to address the situation of sexual harassment and assault too,” the 17-year veteran of the Waynesville School District said.

Long said schools are taking the same approach as the Army; to change conditions and teach youth.

Neil Outar, director of Institutional Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, Missouri S&T, said people may see higher education and the military as different, but they have a lot in common.

“We all have an obligation to people who are on our campuses and on our bases. Our duties don’t end when people leave our force,” he said.

“We explain to people in real-world terms what consent means at S&T and what it means when students leave the university,” he added.

“If we do not make it very clear what our community standards are, we have failed,” said Outar, who oversees investigations into gender-based discrimination.

People come from all different backgrounds and comfort levels of what they are willing to talk about sexually. In some cultures, you don’t talk about sex at all, he said.

Outar said his priority is to talk to students in their language, figure out where they are, and bring them along, because it’s a difficult subject.

“As educators, if we can’t speak to them honestly about it, then what hope do they have for actually finding their way?” he said.

Outar said he uses a euphemism for making a cup of coffee to educate students about consent.

“Someone comes to your house and you say ‘Would you like a cup of coffee?’ and they say ‘No,’ — Do you still make them a cup of coffee?” he asked. “No, you don’t … that would be stupid.”

He added, that if the only thing that keeps someone from doing wrong is the threat of punishment, then the battle to prevent sexual assault and harassment is lost.

Jessica Gargas, MS&T health education specialist, said the university strongly endorses the bystander intervention law and teaches peers, who are usually in the best position to help, how to intervene.

Last year, the university trained more than 500 students as part of “STEP UP!” a bystander intervention program, she said.

Maj. Gen. Kent Savre, MSCoE and Fort Leonard Wood commanding general, said, “We’re trying to take men and women who come to us from college, from high school, from across America, with all different levels of experience, raised all different ways with all different value sets, we’re trying to teach them our values, which we know are critical for success in combat.”

“We’ve got to be able to trust each other. We’ve got to be able to treat each other with dignity and respect. We’ve got to be able to be a team,” he said.

Savre said, more than just statistics, he needs commanders and NCOs to speak up if something doesn’t look right in their organizations and set conditions by teaching what right looks like.

(Editor’s note: The SHARP Resource Center is located in Building 315, phone: 573.596.0131, ext. 60600/65711, and is available for information, guidance and training. The SHARP 24/7 helpline can be reached at 573.855.1327.)

FORT RUCKER, Ala. (September 17, 2015) — U.S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence and Fort Rucker senior leaders came together to discuss criteria of the Army Profession, which strengthen the readiness of the force — Character, Commitment and Competence. When there is a break down in these, it can lead to unit and combat readiness issues such as sexual assault.

FORT LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (Sept. 11, 2015) — Former and current commanders and senior noncommissioned officers took part in a one-day software test here to validate the ELITE SHARP Command Team Trainer, or CTT, laptop-based training application.

The BETA testing took place at the U.S. Army SHARP Academy to review content of the current application utilizing student and instructor program subject matter experts representing future users. SHARP refers to sexual harassment/assault response and prevention.

The ELITE SHARP CTT program is a spin off from the preexisting Emergent Leader Immersive Training Environment – Counseling application that uses Avatar based scenarios to teach counseling techniques for junior leaders.

The Army SHARP Program Office recognized the utility of ELITE – Counseling and worked with the University of Southern California Institute for Creative Technologies and Army Research Laboratories to develop the ELITE SHARP CTT. This application provides upfront instructional demonstrations and interactive practice scenarios related to SHARP incidents.

“The goal for the ELITE SHARP CTT is to create a baseline standard that lays out the golden rules for an effective unit SHARP program,” said Ashley Russell, process improvement specialist with the Army SHARP Program Office.

The BETA testing is the first phase of the software validation process. Once users provide their comments to the developer, the recommendations will be reviewed and considered for improvements.

“This is not the final product,” said Tim Wansburry, with the Army Research Laboratory, Orlando, Florida. The revised program will be provided to the Army SHARP Program Office, which will then have the National Simulation Center, or NSC, conduct a software validation test. Following the NSC software testing, the program will be evaluated by Army Research Institute for how effective the program is for training.

Upon completion of testing and validation, a determination will be made for the best location to utilize this program. Russell said the CTT program could be used at an institutional setting such as the pre-command course for future brigade and battalion commanders; or at an installation setting like the company commander/first sergeant course, or solely as a unit training program at the battalion and brigade.

“We want to provide a virtual interpersonal environment for the unit command team to practice baseline knowledge and skills so they have some practice before they have to deal with a SHARP incident involving a Soldier or Department of the Army Civilian,” Russell said. “A baseline standard with common references to support the unit SHARP program personnel and leaders.”

Following the day-long test, participants were quick to provide feedback on how to better improve the application. Comments went as far to point out that avatars should be wearing the new Army Combat Uniform. The participants felt the new application would provide current and future command teams with a useful tool to better prepare for dealing with an SHARP incident.

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Welcome to TRADOC's official blog where you will find unique stories, commentary from Army Senior Leaders, current news, videos and photos highlighting our Soldiers around the globe. The appearance of external
links on this site does not constitute official endorsement on behalf of the U.S. Army or Department of Defense.